After two years of brainstorming, finding land and building a brewery (with geothermal power) on a former army base, Fauquier‘s Old Bust Head Brewing Company starts making beer today.
The 30,000 square-foot brewery includes a 30-barrel, four-vessel brewhouse, which allows the team–run by head brewer Charles Kling, (of Diamond Bear Brewing Co. in Ark. and Abita Brewing Co. in La.)–to brew more batches quicker.
The first two beers, due out next month, are Bust Head, an English pale ale and Wild Cat , an IPA, which owner Julie Broaddus (with husband Ike, both formerly in real estate) describes as combining “the herbal complexities of newer IPAs, but no bitter aftertaste.” The second round of brewing will include Chukker, a Czech pilsner, named after a period of play in polo (which is a popular sport in the county) and Chinquapin, a porter made with chestnuts, honoring a variety of the nut once found in the forests of Fauquier. A portion of the proceeds of this beer will go to The American Chestnut Foundation, which is working on crossing a Chinese chestnut with American chestnut to ensure another blight does not deplete the tree.
Old Bust Head beers will be available in its Vint Hill tasting room and area restaurants and stores. / Old Bust Head, 7134 Lineweaver Road, Vint Hill.
*This post has been updated.